That said, it wasn’t all good news as the bank deemed it necessary to set aside a further £1.8 billion in payment protection insurance provisions, taking the total provided to date to around £9.8 billion.

Also, Gary Greenwood, an analyst at Shore Capital Stockbrokers, notes the bank has announced that it has been given the ‘green light’ to apply to resume dividend payments in the second half of 2014, applying a progressive dividend policy that will move the company to a 50% dividend payout ratio over the medium term.

“While the ultimate payout ratio is in line with our expectations, the time frame for achieving it is somewhat slower than we had anticipated and is therefore a little disappointing,” Mr. Greenwood added.

Shares have slumped over 2% in early trade Monday.

Staying in the banking sector, Bankia has reported Monday a net profit of €512 million in 2013, as Spain’s largest state-owned lender recovered from the biggest loss in the country’s corporate history the previous year.

The bank, Spain’s fourth-biggest lender by market capitalization, said revenue fell by 3.5% to €912 million in the three months to Dec. 31 from the previous three months. A 7.3% rise in net-interest income to €690 million was offset by a 60% fall in trading income.

Shares climbed 0.5% in early trade Monday.

Finally, shares in Ryanair have soared over 5% despite Europe’s largest discount airline reporting a third-quarter net loss of €35.2 million, down from a profit of €18.1 million a year earlier, weighed by a drop in average fares.

However, investors are looking past these headline figures and noting the company has kept its full-year net profit guidance–although this was cut in the last quarter–while bookings have picked up recently.

“We reacted quickly to last autumn’s weakness with a range of lower fares, seat promotions, and recently increased advertising and marketing spending,” the company said. “As a result, forward bookings in the fourth quarter and into FY15 are running significantly ahead of last year, albeit at weaker yields.”

These are “solid and reassuring earnings,” said Robin Byde, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald Europe. “We think that there is a potential small upside to full year consensus.”